tar: The getwd subroutine failed. Cannot open the parent directory.

[raypru]

I am trying to perform a tar but receive the error in the heading shown above:

tar -rvf mytar.tar file_to_be_tarred1 file_to_be_tarred2

I am able to perform this function on one server (AIX 4.3.3 32bit) but not another (AIX 4.3.3 64bit) . Is this a user related problem or a server related problem? How can I rectify this problem.

 

[DSMARWAY]

Are you running this tar as root ?
if not , are the files you want to backup in a subdirectory off a parent directory , if so check the permissions of the parent directory , see if you have the permissions to backup the file .

 

[raypru]

Running this is as root works all the time. It's when I run as the user (userp) who owns the environment that it does not work. I have checked the user profiles and they are the same on all servers


-- Doesn't work Development2 Server

drwxr-xr-x 34 root system 1024 20 Sep 17:57 usr
drwxr-xr-x 10 bin bin 512 20 Sep 16:58 local
drwxrwsrwx 6 user user1bin 512 23 Sep 11:53 user
drwxrwxrwx 32 userp usergrp 1536 08 Oct 15:48 user_dbase

-- Does work Development1 Server

drwxr-xr-x 37 bin bin 1024 03 May 14:59 usr
drwxr-xr-x 7 bin bin 512 22 Oct 2000 local
drwxrwsrwx 2 user user1bin 512 30 Jul 14:33 user
lrwxrwxrwx 1 userp usergrp 31 30 Jul 14:33 user_dbase -> /usr16/local/user/user_dbase


-- Does work production

drwxr-xr-x 34 root system 1024 20 Sep 17:57 usr
drwxr-xr-x 10 bin bin 512 20 Sep 16:58 local
drwxrwsrwx 6 user user1bin 512 23 Sep 11:53 user
drwxrwxrwx 32 userp usergrp 1536 08 Oct 15:48 user_dbase